
cMrs, Ghnstine 





Class .JTMli 
Book . •• 



GopiglrtN", 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



MEALS THAT 

COOK 
THEMSELVES 



Meals That 
Cook Themselves 

And Cut The Costs 



By 

Mrs. Christine Frederick 

Author ''^The Nenxi Housekeeping"'' 
Founder Applecroft Experiment Station 



B 



PUBLISHED BY 

The Sentinel Manufacturing Co. 

NEW HAVEN, CONN. 




A. 



Copyright^ 1915 

by 

The Sentinel Manufacturing Co. 



MAY 10 1915 

r 

©Cf.A398742 



CONTENTS 
1] 

Chapter Page 

I — My Experience Trying to Get Away From 

Drudgery ... . . 9 

II—The High Cost of Cooking 13 

III — The Principle of Fireless Cooking and Its 

Perfection in the Sentinel 17 

IV — How the Sentinel Looks and Works 23 

V— What the Sentinel Saves in Fuel 29 

VI — How and What You can Cook with the 

Sentinel Automatic Cook Stove 33 

VII — How the Sentinel makes Possible an 

Eight-hour Day for Women 39 

VIII— Planning Your Kitchen to Save Work. . 45 

IX — Questions Women Ask About the Sentinel 53 

X — Where and How You can Buy the Sentinel 59 



CHAPTER I 



My Experience in Trying to get Away 
from Drudgery 



o 



NE day I sat down with pencil and paper and 
tried to figure out just where the time went 
that I spent in all my household tasks. 



First there was the laundry work, practically only 
a once-a-week job. Then there was the work of mak- 
ing beds, sweeping, dusting or cleaning, really a once- 
a-day job. And last there was all the food prepara- 
tion and cooking and the eternal three-meals-a-day. 
When I estimated the time I spent in the laundry, 
the time I gave to cleaning and daily care of rooms, 
and the time I spent on all the cooking, I was aston- 
ished to find that by far the greatest amount of time 
was consumed in the preparing of meals, and that 
/ was actually spending yo percent or nearly three- 
fourths o] my time every day in the kitchen. 

By using fabrics requiring no ironing, and by the 
installation of a good washing-machine and mangle, 
I was able to greatly simplify my laundry work. 
Then I worked out for myself a helpful schedule for 
daily cleaning, and this, together with a vacuum 
cleaner, made it possible for me to reduce my clean- 
ing work to a minimum of an hour or two a day. 
But the great stumbling-block in my housework and 
the one thing I did not seem to be able to simplify 

9 



or cut down the time on, was the cooking and the 
everlasting three-times-a-day, or 1095 times a year 
meal preparation. 

Hours wasted in pot-watching 

I found that all my kitchen work could be divided 
roughly, into (i) food preparation; (2) cooking and 
pot- watching; (3) serving and clearing up; and of 
these three I found unquestionably that the most 
time was consumed not in preparation, or in serving, 
but in cooking and pot-watching. 

I actually experimented and timed myself in dozens 
of kitchen tasks. I found that it took only 8 or 10 
minutes to mix a cake or simple pudding; that I 
could prepare enough carrots, potatoes or other veg- 
etables for a meal in 4 or 6 minutes; and that the 
preparing time of any dish, even pie, bread, or a 
fairly complicated dessert was relatively much shorter 
than the cooking time of the same dish. The same 
cake that I could mix in 8 minutes had to be 
"watched" for a half hour or forty minutes, turned 
in the oven so that all sides were browned evenly so 
that I was sure that the baking was progressing as 
it should. The 7 -lb. leg of lamb which it took me 
only a moment to lay in the pan had to be looked 
at and basted every fifteen minutes to see that it 
did not stick or become too dry. In short, I proved 
to myself the reason I spent so much time in the 
kitchen was due, not to the preparation of the meal, 
but to the hours I had to waste in pot-watching. 

There seemed to be only two alternatives if I 
wanted anything cooked carefully and successfully — 

10 



one, to stay in the kitchen the entire time the food 
was cooking to make sure that it did not scorch or 
boil over or dry up; the other, to interrupt myself 
at other work and run constantly back and forth 
into the kitchen to see how things were "getting 
along." The first way resulted in my being a kitchen 
slave; and the second caused unnecessary steps and 
loss of energy besides confusion and interruption in 
other work. 

Experience does not lessen kitchen drudgery 

I used to think, as a young bride, that the rea- 
son I found myself spending so much time in the 
kitchen was because I was "slow" and had had little 
practice in cooking. But now, with a number of 
years' successful experience I found that I was 
spending almost as much time as ever in the kitchen. 
It seemed to me that the experienced cook had to 
spend just as much time in the kitchen as the in- 
experienced one. The roast won't cook any faster 
or the rice stick any the less because the cook has 
had ten years* practice! — food must be watched just 
the same. 

Many friends of my acquaintance were trying to 
solve their problem by depending extensively on 
manufactured and ready-cooked foods. They thought 
the "delicatessen habit" was the easiest way to strike 
off the chains of kitchen slavery. But I believed that 
there is nothing so important to family health as 
wholesome, well-cooked home foods; and that while 
it might be all right to have an occasional "pick-up 
meal," they were not to be recommended as a daily 

11 



practice, especially in a family with children. Even 
if I seemed to be wasting hours around the stove, I 
was determined to continue my good, nourishing home 
cooking. 

Home cooking meant lack of recreation 

Nevertheless, this determination to bake my own 
bread and pastry, to have well-cooked cereals and 
vegetables cooked with proper care, resulted in my 
being deprived of almost all recreation. I could not 
seem to manage a stretch of free time for sewing, or 
it was almost impossible to attend a meeting of my 
woman's club or go shopping in the afternoon. If I 
took several hours for myself this way it meant that 
my family had to depend on an "eleventh-hour sup- 
per" of canned stuff, hastily prepared. This was not 
good or fair to the family; and yet I knew it wasn't 
fair or good for me to be so "tied down" and unable 
to have recreation, or get new viewpoints of what was 
going on and being done outside of my own 
home. 



12 



CHAPTER II 

The High Cost of Cooking 

IN THIS earnest attempt I was making to solve 
my household problems I found out other facts 
in regard to my home cooking. Not only did 
the cooking take hours of my time and prevent me 
from much needed and desired recreation, but I saw 
that it was vitally touching my pocketbook. In 
my housekeeping in various sections I had used 
successively coal, gas and oil, and even a wood stove 
in a summer camp. But no matter what the fuel, 
the amount of money it cost seemed too large a 
proportion of .our household expense. Whether it 
was coal at $7 a ton, gas at $1.00 a thousand, or oil 
at I2C. a gallon, my fuel bills were exceedingly high. 
It seemed to me that part of my problem was not 
entirely the saving of drudgery, or the lessening of 
the high cost of food, so much as it was the specific 
problem of how to reduce the high cost oj cooking. 

I noticed that no matter what fuel I used there was 
a great deal of waste heat given off in the cooking 
process. Most of this waste heat went out into the 
room, and as I laughingly used to say "cooked the 
cook" as well as the dinner. How clearly I remember 
my kitchen on "baking day" when I used a coal 
range; and even with the usual gas and oil stove a 
great deal of heat was not used in cooking, but was 

13 



radiated off into the kitchen, making its temperature 
too high for comfort. 

Economical buying useless through 
high cooking cost 

I was what is called a ''careful buyer." I studied 
the market and took pride in buying economical 
cuts of meat and other foods at the lowest prices. 
But this saving in marketing seemed valueless be- 
cause the money I saved by prudent buying was 
wasted in expensive cooking. Even if I bought a 
flank steak at 12c. or 14c. per pound, the cost of 
cooking it several hours actually made it as expensive 
as a porterhouse. I hesitated before making soup 
because it required so many hours of simmering. 
While we liked baked beans, lentils and other econom- 
ical meat substitutes I found that the long cooking 
time required for them made questionable their real 
economy. Again and again, when I was tempted to 
use a supposed "cheap" food, I hesitated because 
I knew from experience that it would require so many 
hours of cooking (and hence fuel) that in the end it 
would not prove a cheap, but altogether a very dear 
dish. 

When I was using a gas stove the main reason for 
my high fuel bills seemed to be that I had to cook 
each different thing on a separate burner. For 
instance, if I had a lamb stew, and mashed potatoes, 
and string beans, that meant three burners going at 
once. Or if I had a roast dinner, which took the 
double row of oven burners, I needed at least one 
top burner for the vegetable. 

14 



Because of the long cooking time required I had 
almost given up the cooking of such nourishing cereals 
as whole oatmeal, cracked wheat, etc. Any kind of 
dried fruit like prunes, apricots, etc., also needed 
sustained cooking to do them justice. Again, all 
foods which required to be cooked in a double boiler 
like rice, tapioca, etc., necessitated a generous 
amount of fuel. Unless I wanted to reduce my cook- 
ing to the "frying-pan" type of expensive chops and 
unnutritious fried potatoes, I found that I had to use 
a great amount of fuel, which resulted in "heavy" 
bills. 

Food waste caused by cost of fuel 

Although I wanted to be economical and saving, 
the high fuel cost made it seem impossible. For 
instance, I might have a few left-overs of mutton 
which I knew would make a tasty dish if hashed, 
covered with potatoes and re-cooked forty minutes 
in the oven. Or I might have a quantity of bread 
crumbs and a few apples which could be utilized in 
an appetizing "brown betty" needing, however, an 
hour's slow cooking to make it delicious. A cup of 
corn meal, a little molasses and a few raisins would 
result in a toothsome Indian pudding — if I were 
only willing to use three hours of fuel in which to 
steam it! 

The best ways of utilizing left-overs are in the 
various scalloped, casserole and baked dishes — but all 
of these require from one-half to several hours of fuel. 
In every instance the long cooking necessary made 
me question the economy of using left-overs and 

15 



simple ingredients which required a sustained cooking 
to turn them into palatable dishes The high cost 
of cooking in reality forced me to throw good left- 
overs into the garbage pail and to buy expensive 
cuts of meat! 



16 



CHAPTER III 

The Principle of Fireless Cooking and 
Its Perfection in the Sentinel 

IN ORDER to solve my cooking problem there 
were two things I knew I must accomplish — 
first, cut down the time I spent in useless pot- 
watching; and second, cut down the fuel wasted in 
usual cooking methods and equipment. 

In trying to achieve these two ends I experimented 
with several devices on the market. I tried out 
one kind of radiating plate supposed to heat three 
utensils by the use of one burner. I used for some 
time the triplicate pails which permit three foods to 
be cooked on one heat. I tested combination utensils 
of the double-decked type permitting one or several 
foods to be cooked over the same flame. While each 
of these had some advantage, none completely 
satisfied my wants. 

Fireless cooker seems a solution 

Finally I tried a two-hole fireless cooker of the 
usual box type. This at last seemed a solution. Here 
was a device based on the principle of cooking by 
conserved heat. The cooker was an insulated or 
air-tight compartment into which foods could be 
put after having been raised previously to a certain 

17 



degree of heat. The waste heat which under ordinary 
cooking processes escaped into the room was, by 
the fireless, retained in the air-tight box and used 
as fuel. 

My cooker, like most others of modern make, was 
fitted with a set of disks or "radiators" of soapstone 
which made possible slow, continued cooking. These 
disks were pre-heated on my ordinary stove and then 
placed below, and possibly above, the utensil of 
food I desired cooked. Even though there was no 
direct flame and the lid of the cooker was tightly 
closed, my utensil of food continued cooking with the 
heat slowly radiated from this disk. None of it was 
wasted, or radiated into the room, all of it was used 
in actual cooking. My fireless was a modern appli- 
cation of the thoroughly workable hay-box of the 
Norwegian, or the clambake of the Indian — a cooking 
by conserved heat which meant great saving in fuel. 

Fireless cooking saves time and pot-watching 

In addition, fireless cooking saved me hours of 
pot-watching. Instead of needing to baste my roast 
every quarter of an hour, once it v/as put into the 
fireless compartment it needed no further attention. 
Similarly with other foods on which I had formerly 
had to spend time in seeing that they did not scorch 
or boil over. The slow, even heat of fireless cooking 
prevented any danger of burning and the impossi- 
bility of a sudiien boiling over. 

18 



Firele8S cooking permits food economy 

I also found that the fireless principle of slow, 
retained heat permitted real food economy. The many 
inexpensive foods like beans, cheap cuts of chuck, 
neck and flank, which I had previously hesitated 
about cooking because they took so much fuel in 
their long cooking were ideal when prepared by the 
fireless method of cooking with conserved (or costless) 
heat. I never needed now to ask myself how much 
fuel was required for any given dish, because the fuel 
cost was greatly reduced by fireless cooking. 

Defects in usual fireless cooking equipment 

As I say, I found that the principle of fireless 
cooking was ideal and unexcelled. I proved to my- 
self that it saved labor and pot-watching, that it cut 
down fuel costs one third or two thirds, and that it 
permitted true food economy. But, on the other 
hand, I found great defects in the usual fireless 
cooking equipment. 

The separate cooker or trunk-like box did not fit 
into my kitchen space. It was so large that it always 
seemed in the way. I tried rolling it underneath a 
table and then found it was very awkward and 
heavy to pull out when needed. But the worst dis- 
advantage was the heating of the separate disks. It 
was a real nuisance to heat each separate radiator 
and lift it, while hot, into the cooker compartment. 
Indeed, it took a great deal of time to pull out, lift 
up, heat and lift down again each separate radiator. 
Unless I was very careful, I could not arrange satis- 

19 



factorily in the "wells" the various utensils to cook the 
foods I wanted. 

Another defect of which I was always conscious 
was the round shape of the cooker compartments 
and utensils. It did not seem natural to roast in a 
deep round bucket, or to place a chicken into a 
utensil upright on its head, instead of lying fiat. I 
did so wish I could use my own familiar utensils in 
my fireless cooking! And while I became really 
enthusiastic about fireless cooking, it seemed to me 
a pity and a waste of space that I had to have prac- 
tically two stoves in my kitchen — a separate gas 
stove and then the trunk-like cooker which was 
always in the way. 

The **one-piece" gas stove and fireless cooker 

"Why doesn't some manufacturer bring out a one- 
piece combination gas stove and fireless cooker?" 
I said to a friend with whom I was discussing the 
whole subject. "That would be the ideal stove." 

"But there is just such a stove on the market," 
my friend replied. "That's exactly what the Sentinel 
Automatic Cook Stove is — a combined gas stove and 
fireless cooker." 

I lost no time in looking up this stove and giving 
it a close investigation. I found that here at last was 
a cooking equipment which embodied all the excellent 
points of fireless cooking, with none of the defects 
which had troubled me in the usual fireless equipment. 

Here was no separate box-like cooker, but an 
insulated oven as part of the stove itself. Here were 

20 



no separate radiators requiring to be lifted up and 
down, but a permanent, large radiating plate forming 
part of the oven itself. Here were no round well- 
like compartments, but a broad, square, spacious 
oven large enough to cook a turkey lying flat. I 
saw at once that in the Sentinel Automatic Cook 
Stove all the defects of usual fireless cooking equip- 
ment had been met and overcome. 



21 



CHAPTER IV 

How the Sentinel Looks and Works 

THE Sentinel Automatic Cook Stove is a one- 
piece or combination gas stove and fireless 
cooker. Instead of a separate gas stove and a 
separate cooker which is both space-taking and step- 
making, the Sentinel combines both in one permanent 
fixed equipment. 

It is, first of all, a complete gas stove. There are 
the regulation top burners, large, small, and even the 
little "simmerer." This makes it possible to follow 
usual quick cooking processes in frying, saute-ing, 
making coffee, etc. In addition, there is an excellent 
broiler, so that the Sentinel fulfills first, all the re- 
quirements of the most up-to-date, complete, gas 
range. 

It is, next, a complete fireless cooker. But this 
cooker with its automatic oven is as different 
from the clumsy double or triple-compartment 
cooker as the modern automobile is from the original, 
awkward models. 

Instead of the heat-wasting oven of the usual gas 
stove, there is an insulated or heat-retaining oven 
with walls one and one-quarter inches thick. In most 
cookers or insulated ovens the packing or insulating 
material is loose, so that after a while it shakes down, 
permitting the radiation of heat. But in the Sentinel 

23 



the packing is made in the form of a brick, 
which remains solid permanently, so that there never 
can be any lessening of its efficiency and heat retaining 
qualities. 

The inner sanitary oven-rack 

Within these thick insulated walls is fitted an inner 
oven rack. Its distinguishing point is that it can be 
lifted out and as easily cleaned as the inside of a 
refrigerator. Every woman who has had the usual 
difficulty in cleaning and "getting at" her oven will 
appreciate this sanitary oven rack which can be 
lifted out in a moment and in which there is no 
chance for the accumulation of any food fragments. 
In addition, the rack acts as a heat distributor so that 
any corner of the oven bakes equally well. Think 
what this means in contrast to the usual oven where 
there is only a certain corner that "browns evenly," 
or where it is necessary to lift the food from place to 
place in order to have it uniformly cooked. 

The permanent **radiator" or heat retainer 

As I pointed out, one of the chief defects of the 
usual fireless equipment is the separate movable 
radiators which must be lifted up, heated and lifted 
down into the cooker compartment. In the Sentinel 
there is only one large square heat retainer lying 
at the base of the oven. It is of soapstone and 
for convenience in cleaning and to avoid danger of 
cracking it is in parts. But the heat retainer is 
never moved; it remains a permanent, integral part of 
the cooking compartment or oven. This feature 
entirely obviates the unpleasant and useless motions 
of handling separate radiators. 

24 



The economical single burner 

Another defect in using the movable radiators of 
usual fireless equipment is that they must each one 
be separately heated over separate burners. This 
means considerable fuel expense. Again, the ordinary 
gas oven is heated by two horizontal rows of burners 
which are equivalent to two or three circular burners 
of the usual size. In the Sentinel however, 
there is but one small burner. It is situated 
directly under the heat retainer in the floor of the 
oven, and operated by a single cock. This small 
single burner is sufficient even when the oven is filled 
to its utmost capacity. By exact measurement it 
has been determined that this single burner con- 
sumes only twenty-four feet of gas per hour. It 
would not be possible to heat such a large cooking 
compartment as that of the Sentinel with so small a 
burner were it not for the perfect brick-like insulated 
walls and the special features of the oven rack which 
deflects the heat, and the efficiency of the multi-part 
heat retainer. In other words, because of its superior 
mechanical construction the Sentinel can, with one 
burner, heat as large a compartment as would 
require three times the amount of fuel in the 
ordinary stove 

The commodious square cooking compartment 

Another great disadvantage in the usual fireless 
equipment is the shape and limited size of the cooking 
compartment. The "wells" are round; the utensils 
are round, and as I mentioned, it does not seem 
natural to place foods on end and cook them in 

25 



buckets. In the Sentinel the cooking compart- 
.ment or oven is square and very commodious. 
This permits the quite revolutionary feature in fireless 
cooking of using any and all shaped utensils. 

Your old square baking pan, your "roaster," your 
oblong bread pans, that odd-shaped pudding mould, 
that dear little short-cake tin — all of them "fit" in 
the Sentinel Automatic. It is not necessary to have 
a special "set" of cooker utensils with the Sentinel 
You can use the same pans, tins and moulds that 
you have always used, which means economy because 
you do not have to throw them away or get a new 
set; it also means convenience because you know 
that many of the ordinary sized or shaped utensils can 
never be used in the ordinary fireless cooker. 

Why the Sentinel is automatic 

But I have yet to describe the most interesting and 
unusual feature of the Sentinel — its automatic 
attachment which enables meals to cook themselves. 
Underneath the gas cock of the single burner, and 
attached to it by a simple spring mechanism is the 
automatic time-lever. This lever is also attached to 
an easily read dial which registers the various minutes 
- — ten, twenty, thirty, sixty, etc. The lever can be 
set to operate for any desired time, and at that exact 
moment, the gas cock with which the lever is con- 
nected will be turned off and the flow of fu6l stopped. 
This is what makes the Sentinel automatic — it does 
not require a human hand to regulate or stop the 
amount of fuel necessary to a given piece of cooking. 

26 



In other words, by this automatic attachment alone 
every need for human pot-watching is done away 
with. Instead of standing over a stove and constantly 
looking and judging as to the exact moment when 
the food should be removed and the cooking process 
stopped, this automatic attachment times your 
cooking for you. You do not need to spend 70 percent 
of your time in the kitchen when the automatic attach- 
ment takes your place at the cook stove. 



CHAPTER V 

What the Sentinel Saves in Fuel 

IT IS not a matter of guesswork as to how much 
fuel the Sentinel saves you. In their cooking 
laboratory the manufacturers have tested for 
months and even years, to estimate the saving in 
fuel made by the Sentinel. You may say to yourself 
"it seems worth while for a heavy dinner, but I 
can't see where it saves much in ordinary light meals." 
The point is, you may not always realize how fre- 
quently your dinner is heavy — until you see the 
monthly bill. No one would say the following dinners 
are unusual or extravagant, and yet let us see how 
much fuel it takes to cook them: 

MENU ONE 

Usual way Sentinel way 

2 chickens, 8 lbs 2 hours gas i hour of gas or direct 

Boiled potatoes (10) K " " heat 

Head of Cauliflower ^ " " i^ hrs. retained heat 

Indian pudding 2j4 " " (costless) 

Total fuel 5^ " " i hour .... Total fuel 

This dinner cooked in the usual way, required the 
use of the oven burners, and the use of three separate 
top burners. This dinner cooked the Sentinel way 
was all put into the oven at once and cooked on one 
burner. 

29 



MENU TWO 
Usual way Sentinel way 

Halibut, 2}4 lbs., (baked) ^ hour gas 40 minutes of gas or 

Mashed potatoes (for 4)/. }4 " direct heat 

Brussels sprouts (for 4)... K " 30 minutes, retained 

Cup custard. K " heat (costless) 

Total fuel 2^ hours 40 minutes . .Total fuel 

This dinner is typical of the amount of fuel needed 
in a very simple dinner. It answers the question, 
"Does the Sentinel pay in cooking simple meals?" 
Certainly, if this dinner cooked the Sentinel way 
required only 40 minutes' total fuel, whereas cooked 
in the usual way it required 2M hours' fuel, the 
saving of over two hours' gas has a definite cash value. 
The point to be constantly kept in mind is, that all 
of the cooking generally distributed over two or three 
burners in the usual way can all be compactly done 
over one burner in the Sentinel. 

MENU THREE 

Usual way Sentinel way 

Soup 4 hours gas 70 minutes of gas or 

Baked beans (2 quarts) . . .5 " direct heat 

Boiled beets (for 4) i^ " 5 hours, retained heat 

Baked apples (for 4) same time as beans (costless) 

Total fuel io}4 hours Total fuel . . 70 mins. 

This menu shows clearly the saving that the 
Sentinel effects in all foods necessitating long con- 
tinued cooking. Here we have beans and soup and 
beets (a vegetable generally requiring long boiling). 
Under ordinary conditions, baked beans, soup, whole 
cereals and the cheaper cuts of meat are too expensive 
to be used when the fuel cost necessary is estimated. 

30 



But with a Sentinel, the "costless retained heat" is 
the very means to cook these foods well and inex- 
pensively. It is well known that all of the so-called 
"cheaper cuts" must be cooked several hours until 
their tissues are softened and the flavor extracted. 
This long cooking is extravagant when done the 
usual way, but when done the Sentinel way enables 
the housewife to lessen her food bills with true 
economy. 

Comparison of Sentinel with 
other fireless cooking 

With the usual fireless cooking equipment, it is 
necessary to both pre-heat each utensil of food and 
each radiator over a separate flame burner. While 
this is not ordinarily considered so, it is fairly expen- 
sive. A comparison with the Sentinel cooking cost 
is interesting: 

MENU ONE 

Usual fireless way The Sentinel way 

2 chickens, 8 lbs. 

(2 radiators heated 20 min.) 40 min. gas 
Boiled potatoes (10) 

(pre-heating) 15 " i hour of gas or direct 

Head of cauliflower heat 

(pre-heating) .15 " i ^ hours retained heat 

Indian pudding (costless) 

(pre-heating) 40 " 

also I radiator 20 " 

Total fuel 2 hours, 10 min. Total fuel .... I hour 

From this comparison it will be seen that the fuel 
cost of the Sentinel averages one-half of the fuel 
cost of the usual fireless. Indeed, many women have 
noticed before this that the ordinary fireless is not 

31 



always so fuel-saving and that by the time separate 
radiators or pre-heating is done for each utensil, 
considerable fuel is used. On the contrary, the 
Sentinel permits all these foods to be cooked in one 
compartment, put in the oven cold, without pre- 
heating and cooked by the heat generated under a 
single radiator. There is only one way io lower the 
high cost of cooking, and that is by using a Sentinel. 



32 



CHAPTER VI 

How and What You can Cook with the 
Sentinel Automatic Cook Stove 

THERE is nothing wonderful or difficult about 
cooking with a Sentinel. On the con- 
trary, it reduces the possibility of cooking 
failure to a minimum. The reason for so many un- 
successful dishes is the fact that the cooking time 
and the exact temperature required could not be 
adequately tested by the human worker. Cooking 
is indeed a most exact science; but it is impossible 
to get scientific results by guess, or to estimate a 
definite temperature by a test with the hand, waiting 
for a piece of paper to get brown, etc. 

The reason why commercial cooking, especially 
commercial baking has such uniform results, is be- 
cause mechanism and thermometers take the place 
of the eye and hand. Until recently there has not 
been in the home any counterpart of the controlled 
cooking conditions found in the food factory, the 
bakery and the hotel. But the Sentinel, more 
than any other cooking equipment, has placed 
cooking under definite control of time and temperature. 
Its mechanism is so perfect, and its automatic feature 
so completely gauged that it enables cooking pro- 
cesses to be standardized, or made definite and 
uniform. 

33 



Standardized vs. Guesswork Conditions 

With the ordinary gas stove I used to turn on the 
burners for a few minutes until I thought the oven 
was hot enough. Then I put in my bread, cake or 
meat. During the process I had to open the oven 
door several times to see that the food was not 
getting overdone, and I frequently had to adjust the 
burners high or low as the case might be, to regulate 
the temperature. While about seven times out of 
ten my results were perfect and the bread browned 
evenly, or the roast was not overdone, it happened 
three times out of ten that I had not gauged the 
cooking correctly and my results were far from 
satisfactory. Now, with a Sentinel Automatic the 
responsibility for even, uniform cooking results is 
lifted from the shoulders of the cook and placed 
where it rightly belongs — on an automatic regulator. 

A dinner cooked in the Sentinel 

Suppose we cook our Sunday dinner in the Sentinel 
and see how it works. Our menu is: 

Leg of lamb (lo lbs.) 

Brown potatoes (8) String beans (i qt.) 

Apple tapioca pudding (i qt.) 

I lay the lamb in my regular square roasting pan, 
dusting it with salt, pepper and flour. I pare the 
potatoes and arrange around the meat. I string and 
slice the beans lengthwise and put them with a 
small quantity of cold water into any convenient 
utensil. I pour boiling water on the tapioca, flavor, 
sweeten and add the apples in a small baking dish. 
My dinner is now ready for the Sentinel. 

34 



The oven does not need to be pre-heated 

If I were using the ordinary gas stove, you know 
it would be necessary to pre-heat the oven ten or 
fifteen niinutes before putting in the roast and dinner. 
If I were using the ordinary fireless cooker, you 
know it would be necessary to heat each separate 
radiator fifteen or twenty minutes before placing 
them under and over the utensils of food. But with 
the Sentinel it is not necessary to pre-heat the oven. 
I take roast, pot of string beans, and pudding dish 
and arrange them as is convenient on the racks of 
the perfectly cold oven. Then I light the one burner 
under the heat retainer, shut the oven door, and my 
work is ended. 

Think of the saving in fuel because the Sentinel 
oven does not need to be pre-heated! In any other 
oven or in any other fireless cooker, fuel must be used 
in advance for ten to twenty minutes before it 
actually begins to cook the food. But in the Sentinel 
not one minute's worth oj gas is wasted. The food is 
put into the oven when both are cold (with the 
exception of pastry), and the fuel is not turned on 
until you wish to actually start the cooking process. 

How the automatic attachment works 

I said that one of the most unique features of the 
Sentinel is the automatic attachment which removes 
the responsibility for definite cooking results from 
my shoulders. In other words, once my dinner is 
in the Sentinel I do not have to think or worry or 
figure out when my dinner will be done. I let the 
automatic attachment do the worrying for me! 

35 



This is how it works. In the cooking laboratory 
of the Sentinel Manufacturing Company such careful 
and extensive tests were made in cooking all kinds 
of food that exact rules and time were determined 
for any given kind and amount of food. The setting 
of the automatic attachment is determined by the 
weight of the meat to be cooked or its equivalent. 
There is nothing difficult to figure out about any 
dinner. Here are the two simple rules governing the 
timing or setting of the automatic attachment: 

RULE I 

Direct heat required (time actual fuel is in use): 
lo minutes to each i lb. up to 4 lbs. (of meat) 
5 minutes more for every additional lb. up to 15 lbs. 

RULE 2 

Retained heat required (time no fuel is in use) : 
15 minutes for each i lb. up to 4 lbs. 
10 minutes more for each additional lb. 

How to set the attachment for an actual dinner 

To make it perfectly clear, let us set the attach- 
ment for this, Sunday dinner. The lamb weighs 
ten pounds. Applying Rule i to this weight 
we find ten pounds of meat require 70 minutes of 
direct heat. Applying Rule 2, we find that ten 
pounds of meat require 120 minutes (or two hours) 
of retained heat. All that is necessary for us to do 
is to set the dial hand on the automatic timer at 
70 minutes. After putting our cold food into the 
oven, setting the timer and lighting the burner, we need 
not give another thought to the dinner. Precisely 
at 70 minutes after we lit the burner the automatic 
attachment will shut off the gas and the cooking will 

36 



proceed with retained heat on the fireless principle; 
in other words, the meal will cook itself. 

I may be ten miles from home in the heart of the 
shopping district; I may be enjoying the second 
act of a popular play; I may be in church, or at the 
club, but the automatic attachment works while I 
play — at 70 minutes from the time I turned on the 
gas, and left the kitchen to go out of the house, the 
automatic attachment shut off the gas. 

Could anything be simpler? Could anything so 
well take the burden of pot-watching, and waiting, 
and constant peering into the oven, and basting, 
from the shoulders of the housewife? 

You can roast, boil, bake and steam at one time 

The Sentinel oven is so made and insulated that 
it is possible to roast, boil, bake and steam in it at 
one time. In the dinner we have cooked, the lamb 
was roasted, the beans were boiled, and the pudding 
was baked — all in the automatic oven at the same 
time. In other stoves, or with other fireless cookers, 
roasting and boiling cannot take place in the same 
compartment. But because the Sentinel is so con- 
structed that different cooking processes can be 
followed at the same time in the same compartment 
heated by the single burner, is one of the chief reasons 
why the Sentinel appeals to every housekeeper from 
the economy view. Instead of one burner for roast- 
ing, another for boiling and another for baking, the 
heat from the single burner in the Sentinel oven permits 
all these processes to be carried on successfully at once. 

37 



What you can cook in the Sentinel 

You can cook in the Sentinel any food that you 
can cook in any other stove or fireless cooker. All 
kinds of meats can be roasted, even a turkey weighing 
15 pounds, chicken, roast of beef, or leg of lamb; and 
that means roasted brown and crisp, not semi- 
boiled and white-looking. All kinds of meats can 
be stewed or cooked en casserole with gravy. All 
kinds of vegetables can be steamed or boiled. All 
kinds of bread, cake and pastry can be baked. 
Puddings and desserts can either be baked, steamed 
or boiled. Soups, cereals and other foods needing 
very long cooking are ideal cooked in the Sentinel. 

The Sentinel is first, a complete gas stove on 
which all quick cooking methods like broiling, 
frying, making coffee, etc., are possible. It is 
second, a fireless cooker oven in which all long cook- 
ing processes like roasting, steaming, boiling and 
baking are possible. But it operates with a minimum 
of gas, and its automatic attachment removes the 
human factor of uncertain results and guesswork, and 
enables meals to cook themselves. 

The oven of the Sentinel can be also used in every 
respect like that of an ordinary gas range whenever 
it is not desired to utilize the automatic cooking 
features. You just turn a simple lever and the timing 
mechanism is disconnected from the oven burner. 
In other words, you can bake or roast in the usual 
way or you can cook automatically whichever you 
wish. 



3S 



CHAPTER VII 

How the Sentinel makes Possible an 
Eight-hour Day for Women 

I NEVER seem to get through with my work; 
try as hard as I can I don't seem to be able 
to manage. I always seem to be washing 
dishes or cooking, and at night I'm too tired to sew 
or dress up. How can I get some time for myself 
and yet not neglect my housework?" 

This is only one of thousands of similar letters 
which have come to my desk in the past few years 
from women all over the country. These women 
love their homes and like housekeeping, but justly 
they struggle against the conditions which make it 
still true today that "woman's work is never done." 

I have looked at hundreds of schedules of house- 
hold work which women have sent me for helpful 
suggestions. The fact which stood out in all these 
schedules, regardless of the number in the family or 
where they lived, was that the majority of these 
women were spending between lo and 14 hours a 
day in housekeeping tasks. While man's work very 
generally is limited to an eight-hour day, woman's 
work still remains unmeasured and unending. 

How the average housekeeper's day is spent 

No matter how elaborate or simple the home, or 
how many or few the members of the family, the same 
39 



household tasks must be done in all cases. There is 
cleaning of rooms, making of beds, preparing three 
meals a day and less frequent laundry work and 
sewing. If there are children, their care must be 
included every day as must marketing and special 
occasional tasks like window washing, silver cleaning 
and other time-to-time work. 

While the various daily household tasks under 
other conditions may not be exactly similar, the 
following schedule is typical of an ordinary average 
day in many a family. In this actual case there were 
mother, father and three children, of school age. 
This made the work a little less complex than if 
the children had been younger and at home all of 
the time. As in so many other families, the husband 
did not come home at noon, and the chief meal was 
at night. 

Here is how Mrs. Robbins spent her average day; 
and how Mrs. Robbins spent her day after she bought 
a Sentinel: (The menu in both schedules was 
identical.) 

LUNCH 

Vegetable soup .... Macaroni au gratin 
Cream boiled custard 



DINNER 

Leg of lamb 

Mashed potatoes .... string beans 

Steamed ginger pudding 

40 



DAILY HOUSEHOLD SCHEDULE 



A.M. Without a Sentinel 

6: - 6:30 Rise and dress 
6:30- 7:15 Prepare Break- 
fast 
7:15- 7:45 Breakfast 
7-45- 8:30 Wash dishes and 
clear up kitchen 
8:30- 9:30 Make beds; 
brush up 4 up- 
stairs rooms and 
bath 
9:30-10:45 To kitchen to 
start soup for 
lunch. Return 
to cleaning of 
downstairs, par- 
lor, and hall 
10:45-11:45 To kitchen to 
look at soup ; 
start macaroni, 
start custard in 
double boiler and 
watch them 
11 :45-12 : Finish preparing 

lunch 
P.M. Lunch 12 to ] 

1: - 2: Wash lunch dish- 
es; mop kitchen; 
sweep porch 
2 : - 3 : Finish interrupt- 
e d downstairs 
cleaning of 
morning 
3: - 4: Special cleaning 
— windows, sil- 
ver, stove or pan- 
try 
5 :30 Prepare roast, 
vegetables and 
dessert for din- 
ner, and watch 
their cooking 
6: Dress and serve 
dinner 
Dinner 6 to ' 

8: Wash dishes 



4: - 

5:30- 

7: - 



41 



A.M. With a Sentinel 

{30 minutes saved) 
6 :30- 7 : Rise and dress 

7: - 7:15 Remove break- 
fast from Sentinel 
7:15- 7:45 Breakfast 

7:45- 8:45 Wash dishes and 
clear up kitchen; 
place macaroni 
and custard in 
Sentinel 

8:45- 9:45 Make beds; brush 
up 4 upstairs 
rooms and bath 

9:45-10:45 Clean down- 
stairs; parlor, din- 
ing-room and hall 

10:45-11:45 Special cleaning; 
windows, silver, 
stove or pantry 
11:45-12: Rest period; 15 
minutes sa-ued 
o'clock P. M Lunch 

1: -2: Wash lunch 
dishes; mop kit- 
chen; sweep 
porch 

2: - 2:30 Put dinner in 
Sentinel 

2:30- 5:45 Rest or recreation 
period 



2,}i hours saved 



5:45 Serve dinner from 
Sentinel 

o'clock Dinner 

7: - 8: Wash dishes; place 
cereal, stewed fruit 
for breakfast in 
Sentinel 



Hours of work without a 
Sentinel 

6 A.M. to 12 noon 6 hours 

I P.M. to 6 P.M 5 " 

7 P.M. to 8 P.M I " 

Total hours or work 1 2 hours 

No rest period 
except at meals 



Hours of work with a 
Sentinel 

6:30 to 11:45 A.M. . .$J4 hours 
I P.M. to 2:30 P.M. .I>'2 " 
5:45 to 6 P.M J4 " 

7 P.M. to 8 P.M.. . .1 " 

Total hours of work . . 8 hours 

Rest periods: 

Rises J/2 hour later 
Before lunch J4 " in a.m. 
2:30 to 5:45 3K " in P.M. 



Total Rest period .... 4 hours 



Less fatigue and more recreation 
time with a Sentinel 

In contrasting the two schedules of Mrs. Robbins, 
these facts stand out: In the first schedule it took 
45 minutes to prepare her breakfast; in the second, 
it took only 15 minutes to prepare breakfast, because 
the cereal and fruit had been cooked in the Sentinel 
the night before. This enabled her to rise a half 
Jiour later, thus giving her more energy before starting 
the day. 

In the first schedule her morning's work was inter- 
rupted again and again by having to run back into 
the kitchen' to see how the soup was progressing, and 
starting and watching the luncheon cooking. Owing 
to these interruptions, her cleaning work was very 
much delayed so that she had to spend some of the 
time in the afternoon finishing this cleaning. 

42 



In the first schedule, also, we see that Mrs. Robbins 
spent an hour and a half in the afternoon preparing 
the roast, vegetables, and dessert, basting the roast, 
and seeing that the pudding was cooked properly. 
This took up a great part of her afternoon so that 
she practically had only a few minutes to change her 
dress for dinner and no opportunity to leave the 
house or have a clear stretch of. several hours for 
sewing or some recreation. 

On the other hand, in the second schedule, we see 
that she prepared her luncheon at 8:30 A. M., and put 
it in the Sentinel where it went on cooking without 
any attention from her so that she did not need to 
return again to the kitchen until the actual time to 
serve luncheon. The fact that she was thus free from 
interruption permitted her to "get ahead" with her 
cleaning schedule and crowd into the forenoon's 
work the hour of special cleaning of window, silver, 
etc., which formerly she had to leave until the after- 
noon. In addition, she worked with less fatigue, 
because of less interruption and thus saved some 
little time simply because her efficiency was greater. 

An ** afternoon off" every day! 

But the chief point of difference in the two schedules 
is shown in the free time Mrs. Robbins had in the 
afternoon when she used a Sentinel for cooking her 
evening dinner. After preparing her meal at 2 :3o 
she put it in the Sentinel, adjusted the automatic 
timer and left the kitchen, not to return until 5:45 
or just in' time to serve dinner. In other words, the 
Sentinel made possible an afternoon of every day 

43 



because it entirely removed the need for Mrs. Rob- 
bins' personal attention to the cooking, or need for 
any basting, watching, changing of temperature of 
the oven, or overseeing the cooking of the dinner 
in any way. 

The meals in both cases were the same. But the 
Sentinel enabled Mrs. Robbins to cook the same 
meal with less effort, less attention, and less time. 
Where formerly Mrs. Robbins had been spending 
12 hours in her household tasks, she now spent only 
8 hours a day in doing the same amount of cleaning, 
cooking and other work. The Sentinel made possible 
for Mrs. Robbins an eight-hour day of housework I 



44 



CHAPTER VIII 

Planning Your Kitchen to Save Work 

IN my attempt to solve the problem of kitchen 
drudgery, I found that the way the kitchen was 
arranged made all the difference between step- 
saving and step-making work. Many kitchens are 
far too large; the small, compact, well-arranged 
kitchen devoted solely to the preparation of food 
means easier kitchen work. Good sizes for a one- 
worker kitchen are, 9x11; 11 x 13; 14 x 16. 

Two main kitchen processes 

When I watched myself and other women at work, 
I found there were just two main processes in all 
kitchen work — one, the preparation of food ; and the 
other, the clearing away of food. The preparation 
process consists of the following steps: 

(i) Materials taken from storage, ice-box or pantry. 

(2) Food prepared on kitchen table or cabinet, to 

left of stove. 

(3) Food cooked in the Sentinel. 

(4) Food served on tray or table to right of stove. 

The clearing-away process consists of the following 
distinct steps: 

(i) Soiled dishes carried to stack surface to right 

of sink. 
(2) Dishes washed in sink or dishwasher. 

45 




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CHIMA AND UTENSIL 
SHELVES 




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DINING ROOM 




N 

A 

W E 



Diagram Showing Efficient Kitchen Arrangement 

This permits a simple chain of steps, either in preparing or 
clearing away a meal, 

A — 'Preparing; B — Clearing away. 

A — Refrigerator iced from outside; Kitchen Cabinet; 

Sentinel Stove; Metal-covered Serving Table. 
B — Garbage and scraping shelf; stack-surface; sink; 

drain; china-utensil shelves. 
C — Ample Cross Ventilation. 

D — House closet for brooms, buckets, and cleaning tools. 
Size — approximate 10 x 12 feet. 
S — High stools on castors. 

46 




\=^ — r-^1 



Perspective of Efficient Kitchen 
shown on page opposite 



47 



(3) Dishes drained to left of sink. 

(4) Dishes laid away on shelves, closets, etc., to 

left of drain. 

No matter how simple or elaborate the meal, 
these steps in just this order will permit easy and 
step-saving work. But still more important is the 
fact that each of these steps covers distinct equipment. 

The reason for so much unnecessary walking and 
step-taking is because most kitchens do not observe 
this rule — that the equipment of the preparing process 
must he kept distinct and separate from the equipment 
of the clearing-away process. To ptit it concretely, 
the storage, kitchen table, stove and serving table 
must be arranged together in one group. The sink, 
dishwashing, utensils-and-china shelves and closets 
must be arranged together in a separate group. 

Model kitchen plan shows 
step-saving arrangement 

A careful study of the diagram of a model kitchen 
here given will show how equipment can be thus 
related and grouped. This will permit two separate 
tracks of work: one to prepare a meal; one to clear 
it away. No matter how large or how small the 
kitchen, this arrangement can approximately be 
followed. 

A second rule for step-saving work is, to keep 
related, small equipment together. This means that 
the tools or utensils always used at a given surface 
should be permanently kept there. For instance, if 
the egg-beater, measuring cup and grater "are always 

48 



used at the preparing table, they should be hung or 
kept as near this table as possible. Since the pan- 
cake turner, skimmer and soup-ladle are used only 
at the stove, they and the frying-pans, roasters and 
other peculiarly stove-needed equipment should be 
grouped near the stove. If a woman will watch her 
self at work, she will see that many and many a time 
she walks twenty unnecessary feet to a distant 
pantry, getting her tools, which she might just as 
easily have had permanently located near her work 
table. The more carefully this grouping idea is 
carried out, the more step-saving will be the kitchen. 

Correct height of working surface 

No one point is more important to kitchen comfort 
than to have the working surfaces at the right height. 
Sinks, stove and table are generally so low that they 
mean back-breaking work. The worker should find 
out for herself the most convenient height at which 
she can work without strain or fatigue. The tables 
can be put on small blocks of wood and the sink 
raised several inches to suit her convenience. Good 
heights for tables are 32 to 34 inches; for the average 
woman the bottom of the sink should be about 32 
inches from the floor. 

Pantries and wide shelves inefficient 

Unless the family is very large and a great deal of 
storage room is necessary, pantries and separate 
closets mean extra steps and work. The best plan 
is to do away with separate closets and have as many 
utensils and supplies as possible kept on open, 
narrow shelves. This will permit each article to be 

49 



seen readily, and to have a definite place. Shelving 
should not be wide, but narrow, and if possible 
adjusted to the width of the utensil or article it is 
going to accommodate. Shelving may range from 
6 to lo inches wide, and should also be placed close 
together to save space and prevent awkward reaching. 

Sanitation and cleanliness— the kitchen ideal 

The more sanitary and non-absorbent all the 
surfaces of the kitchen, the less will be the labor of the 
worker. Exposed wood means constant scrubbing 
and care. It is best to have the floor entirely covered 
with non-porous material like linoleum which can 
easily be wiped up. Wood should be dispensed 
with as much as possible, and tables, drainboards 
and other surfaces covered with some kind of metal. 
Nothing should be built close down to the floor so 
as to allow easy and thorough mopping. 

Light and ventilation and the color of the walls 
are minor details which must not be overlooked. 
There should always be adequate light on any 
working surface; cross ventilation can be secured 
by having windows at opposite sides of the room, 
using transoms or having a door in the opposite wall 
from windows. The decorating of the kitchen will 
do much to insure lightness, cheeriness and cleanli- 
ness. Dark, somber tones should never be chosen. 
The ceiling should always be white. The side walls 
may be any of the shades of warm gra}^ light blue, 
cream, putty, buff, apple green, or other neutral 
tints, depending on the exposure of the kitchen. 

50 



The Sentinel makes easy work 

Every woman will appreciate the sanitary features 
of the Sentinel. How many hours many a woman 
spends "polishing the stove!" But the finish of the 
Sentinel is a beautiful battleship gray metal, with 
white splashers above the hot plates, and white' 
enamel trays under the burners. There are no 
ornaments, fretwork, or crevices to hold dirt and 
make work. 

The stand of the Sentinel is as simple and taste- 
ful as a piece of well-designed furniture. The lower 
shelf or cooking compartment is several inches 
above the floor, which permits easy and thorough 
cleaning under the stove. The entire outer surface 
can be kept clean with a damp cloth — there is no 
need to use "blacking," "stove polish" or other 
cleaners which soil the hands. 

Too frequently the "usual stove" makes all the 
kitchen problem. It has waste products in the way 
of soot and smoke, and gives off odors and an excess 
of steam. But since most of the cooking in the 
Sentinel is done in a closed compartment, there is a 
minimum of waste products, that practically results 
in odorless, steamless cooking. This solves the 
problem of kitchen ventilation, because cooking with 
the Sentinel's retained heat keeps the kitchen cool. 
All of the fuel is used in cooking the food, and none 
in cooking the cook! The Sentinel joins hands with 
modern kitchen sanitation because it is so easy to 
care for, so light and clean in appearance, and so 
free from the time-long objections of creating odors, 
soot, and radiated heat. 

51 



CHAPTER IX 

Questions that Women Ask about 
the Sentinel 

PERHAPS you have not yet seen the Sentinel 
and there are still some unanswered questions 
in your mind. Here are some questions other 
women have asked and the answers to them. Is 
your question not fully answered here? 

(i) Is it not necessary to partially heat foods before 
placing them in the Sentinel? 

A. No. It is not necessary to pre-heat foods 
before placing them in the Sentinel oven. 
This is just the point where the Sentinel 
differs and is superior to the usual fireless 
cooker. Foods can be put cold into the 
Sentinel and cooked just as well as if pre- 
heated by the troublesome method ne- 
cessitated in the usual fireless. 

(2) But surely pastry cannot he put into a cold oven? 

A. Pastry is the one exception to the general 
rule about putting foods into a cold oven. 
In this case, the oven needs a slight pre- 
heating, or pastry may be cooked in the 
oven after it has been heated by cooking 
other foods and they have been removed. 

53 



(3) Is it possible to both boil and roast in the oven at 
the same timet ' 

A. Yes. The Sentinel oven is so made and its 
heat retaining qualities so unusual that it 
will roast meat and boil vegetables or other 
food at the same time. 



(4) But supposing a piece oj meat requires yo minutes 
of direct flame, and 2 hours of retained heat {ex- 
ample in this book); will this time not be too long 
for the string beans and the pudding, and will it 
not be necessary to remove them before the roast? 

A. No. Owing to the slow, equable heat of 
the Sentinel Oven, these foods will not be 
over-cooked if kept in this length of time. 
There is no possibility of scorching, or 
over-doing foods in the Sentinel if the 
automatic timer is set correctlv. 



(5) Will not the oven become rusty and a great deal 
of steam be condensed in using this fireless method, 
if there is no outlet for the escape of steam? 

A. The Sentinel provides amply for the escape 
of steam. There is in the bottom of the 
oven an asbestos ring which permits the dry- 
ing out of condensation. There is thus no 
rusting. In addition, the floor of the oven 
is inclined so that moisture is directed to 
this asbestos ring and quickly dried out. 

54 



(6) // 6o or 70 minutes 0} direct heat is needed for a 
lo-lb. roast, it does not seem as if the Sentinel 
is as economical as you sayf 

A. Contrast the time a lo-lb. roast would 
require if cooked in the usual gas oven at 
the usual estimate of 15 minutes of fuel to 
a pound of meat. A lo-lb. roast would 
require 2 hours and 30 minutes of direct 
heat compared with i hour and 10 minutes 
required in the Sentinel, or a saving of 
I hour and 20 minutes. 

It must also be remembered that the 
Sentinel uses only one small circular burner 
consuming 24 feet of gas per hour, while 
the usual gas oven has a double row of 
burners consuming frequently as much as 
40 or 50 cubic feet per hour. 



(7) Can the Sentinel be used for overnight cook- 
ing like the ordinary firelessf 

A. Yes; it is even simpler to use the Sentinel. 
For instance, oatmeal, prunes or soup can 
be put cold into the Sentinel in the evening, 
the timer set, and the cooking will proceed 
over-night. There is no necessity either 
for pre-heating the food up to a given 
point, or for pre-heating the oven. Both 
food and oven may be cold when the cook- 
ing commences. 

55 



(8) How can the exact amount of time required for 
various foods he determined so that the automatic 
attachment can he set correctly? 

A. The exact time necessary and detailed 
instructions for using the automatic at- 
tachment have been accurately worked 
out for you in the cooking laboratories of 
the Sentinel Manufacturing Co. A 
domestic science expert has spent months 
testing recipes and the cooking time re- 
quired in the Sentinel. When you buy the 
Sentinel you receive free a regular, bound 
cook book giving you very complete direc- 
tions for Sentinel automatic cooking. You 
do not have to experiment with the Sentinel ; 
this has all been done for you. 



(9) Do foods never scorch or get overdone in the Sentinel? 

A. If the Automatic attachment is set properly, 
it is impossible for food to scorch, become 
dry or over-cooked. The timer controls 
the amount of direct heat which browns 
and gives the food its first quick cooking; 
the retained heat is so gentle that it could 
not possibly permit scorching or over- 
doing. The only slight exception is boiled 
potatoes, which tend to become a trifle 
soggy so that it is better to always steam 
them when they form part of a dinner 
requiring long cooking. 

56 



(lo) IsnH it difficult to set the automatic timer? 

A. No. The timer never needs winding as it 
winds itself while you set it. All that is 
necessary is to press down the lever, and 
set the pointer to the required number of 
minutes on the dial It is just as easy as 
turning on a gas-cock and lighting the gas. 



57 



CHAPTER X 

Where and How You can Buy the Sentinel 

IN a large number of towns, the Sentinel Auto- 
matic Cook Stove is sold by the local gas com- 
pany or by one or more stove dealers. If you do 
not know whether it is sold by anyone in your town, 
write to The Sentinel Manufacturing Company, 
New Haven, Conn., who will gladly tell you where 
you can get a Sentinel. 

In any community where the Sentinel is not yet 
sold by the gas company or by a stove dealer, it can 
be bought direct from the manufacturers. It is the 
policy of The Sentinel Manufacturing Company to 
make it easy for anybody, anywhere, to get this 
automatic gas stove which saves women so many 
hours of time and work. 

The prices of the different Sentinel models quoted 
on the following pages include freight so that if you 
order it direct from the manufacturers, there is no 
extra charge for transportation. The stove can be 
easily and quickly connected by any local gas fitter 
or pliunber. There is nothing at all complicated 
about its installation — it is connected exactly like 
any gas range. 

When considering the purchase of a Sentinel 
Automatic Cook Stove, you should bear in mind 
that its cost is not an expense but a real economy. 

59 



Entirely apart from the welcome relief from cooking 
drudgery which it gives you, the Sentinel effects such 
saving in gas bills, as compared with the ordinary 
range, that it really pays for itself. 

The saving in fuel and labor — the economies in the 
purchase of food which it enables you to make — are 
so important that practically every woman can afford 
the Sentinel Automatic Cook Stove. And a very 
essential fact to be remembered is that the Sentinel 
can be used in every respect exactly like a regular 
gas range, whenever it is not desired to utilize the 
automatic cooking feature. 

The three Sentinel models are illustrated, described 
and priced in this book. The capacities of these 
models are ample for all needs. No matter how 
large or small your family — no matter how varied 
or complete meals you may wish to cook — the 
Sentinel has the right capacity for your requirements. 

The materials and workmanship of every Sentinel 
Automatic Cook Stove are the very best. Every 
stove is rigidly inspected before leaving the factory 
and (whether purchased direct from the manu- 
facturers or from the local gas company or stove 
dealer) is sold under a binding guarantee that it will 
do everything claimed for it — provided the clear and 
complete directions in the Sentinel cook book are 
followed. 

The purchase of a Sentinel Automatic Cook Stove 
will insure perfectly cooked meals, will lighten your 
work wonderfully and will give you more leisure and 
pleasure every day of your life. 

60 



Metropolitan Model 

This model consists of trie automatic oven, elevated 
broiler, five open burners (one giant burner, three 
regular burners and a simmering burner). Oven 
equipped with Ackroyd Patent Tubular Burner. 
Manifold drilled for automatic lighter if desired, 
(extra charge). It furnishes the maximum capacity 
in the smallest space. 

It is finished in battleship gray and black enamel and 
neatly trimmed. Splash plate is ivhite enamel. 

Furnished ready for installation, its outside dimen- 
sions are: Height 65", Width 23", Depth 25". Hot 
plate 34" from floor surface. Broiler height is 57" from 
floor to middle of broiler. Oven dimensions (inside) 
are: Height 18", Width 20", Depth 19". Lining- 
Heavy rust- proof material, American Ingot Iron 
Aluminum Coated. Furnished with Timer on either 
side as ordered. 

Retail price Complete $50.00. Points West of 
Denver $55.00. Freight allowed. 



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Universal Model 

This model consists of the automatic oven and five 
open burners (a giant burner, three regular burners and 
a simmering burner.) Oven equipped with Ackroyd 
Patent Tubular Burner. Manifold drilled for auto- 
matic lighter if desired, (extra charge). 

It is finished in battleship gray and black enamel, 
and neatly trimmed. Furnished ready for installation. 
Its outside dimensions are: 

Height 34" from floor to top of Hot Plates. 

Depth 25", Width 23". 

Hot Plate surface 20"xl9" on all models. 

Oven Dimensions (inside) are: Htight 18", Width 
20", Depth 19". 

Lining — Heavy rust-proof material -—American 
Ingot Iron Aluminum Coated. 

Furnished with Timer on either side as ordered. 

Retail Price Complete $3 5.00. 

Points West of Denver $40.00. 

Freight Allowed. 



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65 



Cabinet Model 

This model consists of the automatic oven, broiler 
and five open burners (one giant burner, three regular 
burners and a simmering burner). Oven equipped 
with Ackroyd Patent Tubular Burner. Manifold 
drilled for automatic lighter if desired, (extra charge). 

It is finished in battleship gray and black enamel, 
and neatly trimmed. Splash plate is ^ivhite enamel. 

Furnished ready for installation, its outside dimen- 
sions are: Height 58", Width45f', Depth 25f._ Hot 
Plates 31" from floor surface. Broiler height is 50" 
from floor surface to middle of broiler. Oven dimensions 
(inside) are: Height 18", Width 20", Depth 19". 
Lining — Heavy rust-proof material— American Ingot 
Iron Aluminum Coated. 

Furnished with oven and broiler on right or left 
as desired. 

Retail Price Complete $60.00. Points West of 
Denver $65.00. Freight allowed. 



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Cabinet Model with 
Oven Removed 

This photograph shows the Cabinet Model with 
parts removed. Note the simplicity of construction, 
the multi-part soapstone in the bottom of the oven 
and the rust-proof lining of the oven. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




II Hi mill 

014 639 335 4 





